Lab operations managers have many responsibilities, with oversight of gas assets among the most critical. Interruptions or uncertainties in gas inventory can have serious and even irreparable consequences. For this reason, specialized technologies are now being applied to gas monitoring and management in the lab environment. These tools provide accuracy, control and predictability for the lab manager and significantly streamline operations. The following is a list of technologies and features to be aware of, they include:
As a lab manager you know that tanks often come equipped with level gauges and sensing technologies. This means that you likely have mix of different gauges from different manufacturers that are not designed to work in harmony with each other. This makes information unduly difficult to manage. Moreover, legacy sensors and gauges are generally analog, meaning their data is not transmissible and can’t be monitored remotely. To see the remaining level on an analog tank that’s in a basement or remote wing, someone has to physically go there and look.
Modern telemetry systems are digital, can connect data from gauges manufactured by various brands, and the data that they generate can be viewable online from anywhere. The sensing systems include weight scales, liquid level and pressure sensors (installed on tanks and on manifolded cylinder systems), and temperature sensors. Lab managers can track gas, liquid, solid and temperature levels from anywhere on a computer or mobile device. The resulting data shows important usage trends, and predictive analytics let budget planners work with new levels of confidence.
With modern telemetry, lab managers can set automated alerts that notify them when gas levels drop below a certain threshold. Being proactive in this way helps ensure timely refills and prevents interruptions to lab operations. These alerts also help get the most yield out of on-hand gas inventory and stretch budgetary dollars. With telemetry alerts, lab managers can decide their own critical levels, and schedule gas deliveries only when they’re genuinely needed. This eliminates “top-off” visits from the gas distributor that add up in cost. The alerts, sent via text or email (or both), can be delivered to multiple stakeholders, such as the lab operations manager, the gas distributor salesperson and the distributor dispatcher.
Tanks holding liquids such as liquid nitrogen and CO2 can easily be monitored and measured with a differential pressure sensor, which measures the liquid level in a tank. These sensors are extremely precise, and like other digital pressure sensors, can transmit tank level readings in real-time.
For gases like helium and hydrogen, pressure gauges are commonly used to monitor the pressure inside storage cylinders or tanks. With digital sensing and telemetry, lab managers can remotely monitor inventory and know remaining gas volume based on pressure readings. Today’s pressure sensors are far more precise than analog gauges, with greater than 99% accuracy.
Pictured: (top image): A Pulsa High Pressure sensor on a microbulk tank with a manifold that allows it to automatically switch over to a backup cylinder. (lower image): A Pulsa High Pressure sensor on a high pressure cylinder.
In some cases, it is desirable to quantify gas inventory by weight. For these applications, lab managers can weigh gas cylinders on a compact scale to see remaining gas volume based on a decrease in weight. This method requires knowing the weight of the cylinder when it's empty in order to calibrate it; a gas distributor manages this calibration. Once the scale is calibrated, the lab manager can look on their phone or computer to see level data, trends, and set alerts.
Larger tanks such as 1000 liter stainless steel high pressure liquid cylinders, can be placed on steel industrial scales then filled. Oftentimes, a differential pressure (that measures liquid levels) and a pressure sensor are also added to a tank that is on a scale.
The above image shows liquid nitrogen and CO2 dewars in a lab with gauges from Rotarex and Chart to measure liquid level consumption. The gauges are connected to the Pulsa Link so that the data flows into the Pulsa dashboard. The tanks are also sitting on Pulsa Industrial scales and being measured by weight.
Temperatures in various lab settings can also be monitored and measured, along with gas levels, within the same telemetry system. For example, temperature trends in a growth chamber can be monitored along with gas consumption trends, providing important oversight. Alerts can notify lab managers of important anomalies, such as if the temperature spikes in a fridge due to a door being left open.
As mentioned earlier, a modern telemetry platform can incorporate any existing sensor or gauge into its system by way of a simple connector. As an example, Pulsa provides the Pulsa Link, a simple adaptor that connects any device with a 0-5V or 4-20mA output and joins it to the Pulsa platform. When all of a lab’s important inventory data is in one convenient dashboard, it’s easy to monitor levels, consumption and trends.
Learn more about Pulsa: Read about the Pulsa Gateway, the bridge that brings sensor data to the dasboard.